Honey & lavender summer chicken

Roast chicken is one of my staple go to meals, it is pure comfort food. I have been known to cook a whole chicken for myself and devour it over the course of a weekend. With this in mind one of my many missions in life is to discover and come up with new ways to flavour my favourite roast. This honey and lavender chicken recipe is a nod to summer holidays in France and lazy afternoons eating outdoors, playing cards and drinking red wine. It’s a wonderful combination resulting in beautifully sweet and sticky chicken that keeps you coming back for more.

Serves: 4 - 6

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 1 hr (plus 30 min marinade)

Ingredients

For the chicken

  • 1 chicken (jointed into 8-10 pieces)
  • 2 tbsp dried lavender
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 tbsp runny honey
  • 4 sprigs thyme
  • 1 lemon (zest and juice)

For the potatoes

  • 450g jersey royal new potatoes
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

Honey & lavender summer chicken

Roast chicken is one of my staple go to meals, it is pure comfort food. I have been known to cook a whole chicken for myself and devour it over the course of a weekend. With this in mind one of my many missions in life is to discover and come up with new ways to flavour my favourite roast. This honey and lavender chicken recipe is a nod to summer holidays in France and lazy afternoons eating outdoors, playing cards and drinking red wine. It’s a wonderful combination resulting in beautifully sweet and sticky chicken that keeps you coming back for more.

Method

For the honey and lavender chicken

  1. If you are jointing the chicken yourself see hints and tips section. If you have already had the chicken prepared by a butcher or have purchased joints from a supermarket skip straight to step 2.
  2. Crush the lavender and thyme leaves in a pestle and mortar before adding to a bowl large enough to hold the chicken. Add the rest of the ingredients for the marinade and mix well.
  3. Next add your chicken to the bowl and massage the marinade in to the meat making sure all pieces are evenly coated. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to marinate for at least 30 mins. This can be prepared the day before and left overnight in the fridge – just be sure to bring the chicken back to room temperature before cooking.
  4. Heat the oven to 180°C (fan) and tumble the marinated chicken on to a baking tray making sure there is space between each joint so that they brown evenly. I tend to pop the leg and thighs joints in for the first 15 minutes on their own and then add the breasts for the last 30 minutes of cooking so that they don’t dry out. Cook for 45 minutes in total until the skin is beautifully brown and the juices run clear.
  5. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving. Keep the roasting tin with all the juices for the potatoes below.

For the potatoes

  1. Rinse the new potatoes before parboiling in a saucepan of boiling water for 10 minutes. I tend to leave any tiny potatoes whole and cut the larger ones in half so that they cook evenly.
  2. After ten minutes drain the potatoes and place in to a roasting tin with some salt and a generous glug of olive oil. Make sure they are well coated.
  3. Pop the potatoes in the oven at the same time as the chicken as they will also take 45 minutes to cook.
  4. Once cooked set aside until you have removed the chicken from its roasting tray and on to a serving platter. Next add the roasted potatoes in to the tin that the chicken had been cooking in and jumble them around until they are covered in all the lovely sweet and sticky cooking juices.
  5. Spoon in to a suitable serving bowl and season to taste.

To serve

  1. I simply pile up the chicken and potatoes in to separate serving bowls, making sure any spare juices are poured over the top, and serve alongside a fresh green salad. Alternatively if you don’t fancy the potatoes it goes equally well with crusty bread, which is a great vehicle for mopping up all the juices from the plate. The plates I’ve used in the photography can be found at: Nom Living

Honey & lavender chicken